Maiden In Blade
by The Ephemeral Sanity
Summary: Kirito discovered a "special sword" when he was playing the beta version of Sword Art Online. The sword had a spirit trapped inside of it called Rozen of the Blade. It was quite a mysterious sword. Who was Rozen? Why was she trapped inside the sword? Was she an actual NPC or something else? As the cogs of time continue to turn, the story of the mysterious sword begins to unfold.
1. Rozen of the Blade

**Maiden In Blade  
****By The Ephemeral Sanity**

**Prologue  
****Rozen of the Blade**

* * *

**Sword Art Online  
****Beta Version  
****July 2021**

* * *

I ran towards the woods, hoping to lose the monster that was chasing me. I have to admit, Sword Art Online's battle system was rather too realistic that it makes all of my gaming experience useless in combat. Unlike 2D or 3D games, I only have to use a portion of my body to control my character's actions. My field of view's in first person so unlike most MMO's, my view is very limited. I'll probably need some time to adapt before I could play smoothly with this kind of system.

Once I believe I gained enough distance away from the monster, I stopped to catch my breath and update my knowledge of my surroundings. It wasn't really necessary to stop and catch my breath considering that I don't get tired in this game—there was no stamina bar. But I needed to know where I was because the area that I was in was rather different from before.

The trees of the forest was different from before. It wasn't only the trees but also the ground, the sky, and the atmosphere of the environment. The luscious green leaves of the trees was now of a lustrous bold blue shade, the soil was of marble white, the clear blue sky turned into a roof of lonely grey, and the atmosphere became eerie—it was too silent that it was deafening.

"Where am I?" I asked myself. I only ran a few meters inside the woods, how come my surroundings had drastically changed?

[ **Hey kid. **]

I thought I heard someone talk. I gazed from left to right to check, but I couldn't feel any presence of another player. Maybe it was just my imagination. So I continued to check my surroundings.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a sword standing on top of a small isolated land surrounded by water. Why was a sword there, I could only guess. Maybe it was some kind of quest item? I couldn't tell. Curious, I walked towards it cautiously. While moving towards it, I kept an eye out of my surroundings. Since I was in a new area, I don't know the kind of monsters that I might encounter. Never hurts to proceed with caution.

When I came close, the water prevented me from getting closer. It didn't seem to be shallow, rather, it seemed to be fairly deep. I wondered what was the purpose of putting a sword in the middle of nowhere and surround it with water. I sighed. Questioning the logic behind it wouldn't help me progress. Now good question would be, "How do I get there?"

There wasn't anything to use to go across. No boats, no bridge, no stepping stones, no nothing.

I sighed and scratched the back of my head. I couldn't chop a tree down and use it as a bridge. The game wouldn't allow me to do so. I sighed once more and looked at the sword. If there wasn't anything I could use to get across, maybe I should just leave it and move on. It was instant death if I swim across and get attacked by a hidden monster that was possibly lurking inside the water. So I turned and slowly walked away, grunting how I just wasted my time.

[** Scared of getting wet? What a sissy. **]

I sharply turned my head towards the location of the sword. I thought I heard voice coming from over there. But I couldn't see anyone. No one was there. Was I getting hungry that causes me to hear voices? It was quite weird. "Is anyone hiding out there? Show yourself!" I shouted. Maybe someone was playing a prank on me. Yeah, it was the most logical explanation I could ever come up with at the moment.

[ **Come over here and I will.** ] The voice replied.

I unconsciously raised an eyebrow. "Come over where?" I still couldn't see anyone. But the voice was clearly coming from where the sword was.

[ **Cross the waters, fool. ****A little splash won't kill 'ya.** ]

The owner of the voice was rather too obnoxious. But nevertheless, I was curious. It could be a trap, I don't know. I was too curious to even pay attention to my safety.

I ended up going back and stopping again next to the waters. I swallowed a lump of saliva down my throat, quite nervous about what I was about to do. If ever this was a trap, then I would call myself naive and stupid forever. After a sigh, I jumped into the water and swam my way towards the small mass of land at the middle of it.

The water felt cold, but I didn't made me shiver nor sneeze. Strange, the game was filtering some of the things that I was supposed to feel. I hauled myself up and landed on the island. The sword was just a walk away from me. My eyes scanned the area. No one was there.

"Where are you?" I called out, expecting to hear the same voice to reply.

[ **Kid, in front of you.** ]

"In front of me?" I asked myself. I see nothing but only the sword stuck to the ground. I scratched the back of my head as I walked towards the only thing that was on the island.

"I don't see you!" I said as I arrived near the sword.

Suddenly, I heard a growl. I looked around and unsheathed my sword, ready for battle. The sky became dark and huge droplets of water fell on me. What was it?

[ **Watch out! ****Above you!** ]

I looked up immediately after I heard the voice spoke. An enormous fin and scaled creature was flying on top of me like it was about to flatten me. "A leviathan?!" I exclaimed in shock. Quickly, I tempted to evade the drop designated to squash me by running and dodge rolling towards the front of the land where the shadow of the creature didn't existed.

I hastily regained my balance and composure before looking at the creature that attacked me. It was long and big like a giant anaconda, but it had big and lustrous blue scales that looked like jewels as light reflected on it. It's head was of a shape of a dragon. The leviathan had two horns on each side of its head with whiskers, and fins that stood on its head down to its spine and tail. The expression of the leviathan was extremely alarming.

As soon as it growled once more, it began to move towards me—angrily crawling on land. I quickly ran around it as fast as I could, evading the water. If I jumped down and swam across, it would be the death of me. It was a bad idea to go in to the territory of the leviathan. At least in land, I was more mobile than I am in the water.

Another growl and the distance between me and the mouth of the leviathan became smaller and smaller. I was going to get eaten alive!

[ **Quick!** **Take me. ****Take the sword with you!** ] The voice exclaimed.

My mind didn't question the voice. When I was near the sword that was stuck on the ground, I quickly grabbed it with my left hand and turned around to face the monster head on. There was no use in running away. I had to fight. Two swords and one man versus one seriously pissed off leviathan, this ought to be good.

The voice laughed menacingly. [ **Follow my lead.** ]

The sword that I just took shone brightly. A white figure came out of the sword, took blade, and stood beside me. The figure's head seemed to be facing my direction as it held the blade with one hand in a compose and confident manner. It seemed to be gesturing me something but I couldn't tell. There was no face and the gender was unrecognizable because of the shaky form. The figure was just all white, barely taking a form of a person.

[ **Let's dance!** ] The figure said as it embraced the sword and started to sway before jumping towards the leviathan to attack. I followed the figure closely and ran towards the monster.

The figure laughed as it dealt the first three blows on the leviathan. It swung its sword from left to right, landing two hits and then slightly jumping upwards to deal an uppercut blow with the sword. After dealing three blows the figure quickly jumped to the side, giving me the turn to attack as well.

Simultaneously, the figure and I jumped towards the monster. The figure laid out a powerful kick midair, making itself spin in the air to land a blow. I let my hips be my axle and rotate me as gravity pulled me down, casting a frontal spin while heading towards the enemy. We both landed a blow—slashing parts of the leviathan, counting it as the fourth and fifth hit of a combo. As soon as we hit the ground, we leaped back towards the monster to execute a side slash.

A X-mark was embedded on the skin of the leviathan as soon as we delivered the blow. I landed on the left side while the figure landed on the right side.

The leviathan growled and wailed. I thought it was going to die until its tail slapped me towards the ground. That was bad on my part.

[ **K****id!** ]

My health bar was drained as the full green bar slowly declined and turned yellow to orange to red.

I wasn't paying attention to the battle anymore. I just heard a loud thud on the ground. My head rolled towards the direction of the sound and saw the leviathan dead. The figure was standing on top of it with the sword at its hand. It stabbed the leviathan and quickly, the monster shattered into pieces of data like glass.

[ **Aw shit, what a pain. ****Better fix you before you die.** ]

The figure walked towards me. As soon as it was near me, it raised its sword and—before I could react, it stabbed me. There was no pain. Apparently pain didn't exist in the game. Although I could feel a strange sensation flowing in me. Before I knew it, my health bar turned green and was now full—like nothing ever happened.

[ **There you go, good as new.** ] The figure said.

I stood up and dusted myself. "Who and what are you?" I immediately asked out of curiosity. It couldn't be a player. The figure seemed too powerful to be one especially the game just started a few hours ago.

The figure clicked the tip of its tongue and tapped its foot while crossing its arms. [ **Have you not own any manners, kid? ****Introduce yourself first before asking people their names.** ]

Suddenly, I feel small and ashamed. I scratched the back of my head and introduced myself, "Oh, sorry. My name's Kirigaya Kazuto. Kirito, preferably. What's yours?"

[ **T****hat's better****.** ] The figure said as it gave a giggle. [ **Hm, call me ****Rozen.** ]

"With what just happened, I assume you're not a player. So what are you?"

The figure stabbed the ground with the sword and then suddenly shattered into pieces. But instead of the pieces disappearing, it was being sucked inside the sword. [ **As you can see, I am the spirit of this sword. ****Rozen of the Blade.** ]

"Okay. So... are you an NPC or something? Like a quest item?" I asked while looking at the sword.

[ **Yeah... something like that.** ]

"So... what now? Do I leave you here and do your fetch quest like the rest of the NPC's gives?" I asked. It was amusing that this NPC actually could talk like a normal person would. But it was also strange at the same time. Are there more NPC's like Rozen?

[ **No.** **Tell you what, kid. If you take me with you, you might unlock things that no other player will ever discover. I'm also pretty useful in battle if you're in a clutch ****as you could tell from our previous endeavour****.** **So, what do you say? **]

"Sure," I said.

[ **Sweet.** ]

* * *

So that was the start of the friendship between Rozen and I. At first, I thought she (assuming Rozen's a female) was just a special NPC companion that was trapped inside a sword in the game that I would travel with as I progress. But as time went by and with the circumstances drastically changing, I thought wrong.

She was something more. Something more than just a spirit trapped inside a sword.

Something entirely different from what I could see.

And I was about to find out.

* * *

**Author's Note:** My second Sword Art Online fan fiction. Soul Nomad (Soul Cradle) and Transistor inspired me upon writing this story. Both of it are pretty much amazing games, I hope other people know these games. So anyway, this is just an introduction to Rozen. Basically this chapter tells us the story of how Kirito and Rozen met each other. A lil bit of a back story before actually entering the chapters. Feedbacks are much appreciated.

Until the next update~


	2. The Contract of Meister and Blade

**Maiden In Blade  
By The Ephemeral Sanity**

**Chapter One  
The Contract of Meister and Blade**

* * *

After the beta of Sword Art Online, emptiness consumed me. It was as if I lost a part of my limb or worse—a part of my soul. Sometimes, the sound of a familiar voice will tug my sense of hearing only to stab my heart in disappointment because it was a mere play of tricks by my imagination. Whoever knew I would ever miss a talking sword?

But today, that sense of longing will disappear.

"Link start!"

* * *

**Sword Art Online  
Official Version  
November 2022**

* * *

As lights entered my retina, the rhapsody of vivid spectrum travelled through my optic nerves and sent a mesmerizing visual information to my brain. It was a different world surrounded by the most interesting environment. A world so different from the grey reality that it entices the mind, body, and soul for an adventure promised to be an unforgettable experience. A world so beautiful that no earthly words can capture its overall aesthetic. The word "perfection" was paler than white in comparison to its beauty.

The world of Aincraid had my heart on the palm of its hands as the wind raised its arms calling out to my inner flame. Evoking the adventurer in me, I heeded the call and embraced the calling of the wind. In this world, I am free. Bound by none. My blade is my only ally. But the question was, "Where is my blade?"

I hovered my right index finger into the air and gently slid it down to summon my inventory. My eyes and finger quickly searched for the most missed companion. But the sword was never to be found. There was only a clue, a fragment left behind for me trace the location of Rozen. In my inventory there was an item called [ **Petal of the rose** ]. It was a classified as a quest item. The item description said,** "Till we meet again in the place where it all began."**

A smile crept onto my countenance. I had forgotten that she was an NPC and a special item from the beta version. Of course it wouldn't be that easy to be reunited with her. Oh well, this was going to be the beginning of my adventure in the official version of Sword Art Online. The smile turned into a grin as I ran towards my destination.

"Wait for me, Rozen!"

* * *

The feeling of adrenaline rushing over to every bone, every nerve and every muscle of my body gave me a taste of immeasurable excitement while I channelled all of my energy to my legs and ran as fast as I could, evading every player blocking my path through the busiest part of the Town of Beginnings.

The flee market was always filled with players even in the beta. It was where players gather information, socialize, and make some profit in the early stage of the game. Normally I wouldn't take this route due to the congest population but since I was in haste, I had to because it was the fastest way to get out of town.

I manage to get to the ends of the market without any trouble until a man with long magenta hair called out to me over and over again. At first, I didn't bother on looking back and to stop for the man. But when he was chasing after me with such an exhausted look, pity knocked on my conscience even though I knew that you can't ran out of stamina in the game. A sigh escaped my lips as I stopped on the narrow alleyway near the exit.

"What's up?" I asked with a curious expression while looking at the man.

The magenta haired man wearing a red tribal patterned bandana held his knees while catching his breath (as if he needed to actually breath like that). "You look like you know your way around here. You were in the beta test, weren't you?" He asked me with a smile on his face.

Way to start a conversation. I've got to hand it to this guy, he's straight to the point. "Yeah," I casually replied. I knew where this conversation was going.

"Cool," he said as he fixed his composure before gesturing that he was in need of some assistance and walked closer to me, entering my personal space. "Today is my first day so could you give me some tips on the lower floors?" He grabbed me my by left shoulder and looked at me in the eye. The desperation from this man was too real.

My face didn't betray my emotions as I led out an unsure smile while my eyes avoided his gaze. "Yeah, I don't know if—"

His right hand quickly left my shoulder. Afterwards, he clasped both of his hands together with closed eyes in plead and begged me. "Please, I'm begging you." The man didn't gave me any room to react as he changed his pose once more. He pointed his right thumb to himself with a confident smile and said, "Look, my name is Klein. Good to meet you."

I was startled and appalled. This person must be a salesman in real life. He was persistent, stubborn and gave me no room to argue. I gave a smile and placed a hand on my hip.

"Alright, my name is Kirito."

If Rozen was with me, I wonder how will she get rid of Klein? I sighed.

Too easy, you're too easy Kirito.

* * *

"Shouldn't we fight boars first like the rest of the players that we passed by the plains?" Klein asked me with a sense of discomfort and doubt about my decision of going straight into the forest. It was a normal reaction of course. To go against rushing stream of the norm of the major population makes you wonder if you're making a right decision.

I continued to run through the sea of green trees while looking at Klein out of the corner of my eye. "Normally, I would suggest we do that first as well since you have no experience with the battle system of the game. But there's something important I need to do. We don't have time for tutorials," I told him. "Besides, you're the one who wanted to come with me."

He scratched the back of his head and dismissed the subject. "Yeah, yeah."

Klein looked at our surroundings as it gradually changed as we went deeper inside the forest. The green trees turned into a deep and bold colour of blue. He looked down and saw the soil beneath our feet change bit by bit into marble white. His eyes gazed at the sky which turned grey. Curiosity filled him. He asked me, "So where are we going, Mr. Beta Tester?"

A smile crept onto my face as I replied, "To a special place."

* * *

We were close to our targeted destination. The terrain was familiar since I've dreamed of this place several times when class tends to bore me. The centre of the forest with a body of water surrounding an isolated mass of land at the middle of it. But in my dream, my companion was always there waiting for me to be reunited with her. Unfortunately this time, it was not the case. Rozen wasn't there.

"Stop!" I exclaimed which made Klein be on alert. Him and I cautiously observed the area, looking for signs of monsters lurking from the shadows. "Be careful," I said as I walked closer to the body of water.

Assuming this would be the same from the beta, a leviathan would be waiting for me if I swam across the water. My eyes gazed over at a farther distance to scope more detail of our surroundings. I discovered something new. "A statue?" I asked myself out loud, eyebrow raised.

It was a medieval looking statue of a woman holding a basin over flowing with water. As the water overflows from the basic of the statue, it flows down on a small closed circumference of water surrounded by landmass. The inner isolated body of water contained red petals that was similar to the one I have on my inventory. "That's new. It wasn't there before," I pondered. It should be a sword of Rozen placed on the middle not some statue.

"Kirito! The coast is clear. What now?" Klein caught back my attention. He looked at me, a bit hesitant of what I was doing.

I looked back to where I was looking before and sighed. The leviathan might show up, putting Klein and I in a large disadvantage because of levels and equipment. But we might not even trigger the trap that evokes the leviathan if we're careful enough as we explore the area across. If all else, we could just come back from the dead and try again. Although for now, "Now, we swim."

Without waiting for a reply, I jumped and swam across. Klein soon followed me.

After arriving at the isolated island, I quickly went near the statue where the pond of water was. There was a text engraved on the foot of the statue. It said, **"Petals scattered will soon meet to live and die together as one."**

"What does it mean?" My magenta haired companion asked with a hand on his hip.

I quickly opened my inventory and took out the quest item I had. What I had on my hand was a small red petal glowing fiercely like a burning flame. "Petals scattered will soon meet to live and die together as one," I repeated the engraved text. My hand unconsciously let go of the petal. Letting it fall on the pond making gentle ripples on the surface of the water.

Suddenly the marble ground shook and it turned dark. It felt like deja vu as I looked up seeing the leviathan that I was cautious of. It was bigger and wider than before. The leviathan had a fiercer look as its fins were like razor sharp swords. Its big lustrous blue scales reflected my shocked expression as it was about to flatten me.

Even if I moved, the leviathan would still hit me. Klein on the other hand was a bit father away from me which meant he could get away and swim across to safety. "Shit!" Both Klein and I exclaimed.

But when I was so close to getting flattened, a pillar of ruby light pierced through the body of the leviathan—shattering the monster into pieces. The light came from the pond where I dropped my quest item on. The pillar of light emitted powerful succession of continuous force that shook the surroundings. Each wave of force changed the colour of the terrain. From blue and white, it turned into red and brown.

"What's happening?!" Klein shouted as he braced himself from the powerful wave.

I was about to replying when the last wave of force sent us flying away. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see our health bar slowly turning red.

My vision turned white.

* * *

[ **Hey, kid.** ] A familiar voice made me open my eyes.

I was in a different area. It looked like as if I was in a throne room but it seemed dusty and dark. Only the light coming from narrow slits of the walls was the only light source of the place. My eyes quickly looked at the ground as it was so close to my face. Then I realized that I was kneeling—or rather, I was being forced to kneel.

My eyes gazed over to what was in front of me. Assuming I was right, it looked like a woman facing backwards. She was wearing something fancy and extravagant that deemed her as someone who came from a noble family. [ **Its been so long since the last time we saw each other. Do you still remember me, kid? **] The woman asked me.

"Rozen?"

A laugh reverberated throughout the room. [ **Rozen? Oh, that's right. I am called Rozen of the Blade.** ] She said with a hint of sadness trailing along her words.

I couldn't move. I was restricted to do anything else. The only thing I could do was kneel and look at Rozen who seemed as if she was staring at something that was hanging on the wall. It was hard to see what she was looking at since I couldn't move nor lift even a finger. My vision was locked, movements were restricted.

"Why can't I move? Where am I?" I asked, still persevering on breaking whatever was restricting me.

[ **You're in my humble abode. ****In Etherose, the ruins of the forgotten kingdom.** ] She said as she twirled around me. [ **Fancy isn't it, kid? I get to have my own throne room. It's a bit dusty and rugged but it definitely has personality. And history. Like me.** ]

"Wait, Rozen. Why am I here? I was just on the first floor inside the forest with Klein? Oh wait where's Klein?" I asked a series of questions as I remembered that I had a companion.

She stood in front of me. I could not see her face for some reason as it was obscured and a bit faded like I was dreaming for some reason. [ **Bombarding me with questions already? **] She laughed and continued. [ **Your friend is at the same location as you have last seen him. **]

[ **Why are you here? Didn't you come here to see me? Although our meeting place might be rather different than what you had imagined.** ] Rozen smiled and turned her back to me as she looked at the two paintings hanging on the wall.

One of the paintings was of a man holding a brush while the other one was of a woman holding a book. It was rather odd to see the two paintings but for some reason the woman looked very familiar. My thoughts were interrupted as Rozen began to ask me a question.

[ **Kid, do you know why this game is called Sword Art Online?** ]

"No," I replied. I didn't really put much thought on why the game was called as it was. Was there something more to it than just a title?

She turned around and I felt her intense gaze. [ **You came here to seek my aid. I will answer your heed only if you agree to my request. **]

"What is it?" I asked, curious as to what it was. I seem to have forgotten that she was an NPC that could possibly give me a quest.

[ **Collect the all of the lore that has a connection to the forgotten kingdom and take me back here to Etherose.** ]

"Sounds easy enough. But how am I going to get any lore? Where is Etherose actually located?" Before I agreed to anything I should know how and where to get the items that she asked for. And although I was suddenly transported to Etherose, I doubt that I would get here the second time using the same method.

[ **Do quests relating to the current monarchy of the land. Explore the 100 floor world of Aincrad. Defeat all of the guardians protecting ****each ****the lore. When all of the lore have been collected, the path of Etherose will appear. **]

[ **So I will ask you again. Will you accept my request? **]

"Yes, yes I will."

The woman before me suddenly was engulfed by light. She glowed brighter and brighter by the second until she shattered into pieces like glass. The shattered pieces gathered together and formed a sword in mid air. It was a black blade with a glint of red.

[ **Until the day of Ragnarok comes, I will**** clear**** a path for you as the Rozen of the Blade.** ]

My vision suddenly became hazy until everything went white once more.

* * *

[ **Lore Acquired.** ]

* * *

"It was a beautiful painting in progress that was given birth by an artist whose brush is articulate in the language of codes. The inspiration given by a beloved made it possible to create such a painting that would be adored by many as soon as it was finished and placed in the exhibit. Dreams, hopes, and happiness encoded in the matrix of the canvas. But as time reveals an unavoidable string of misfortune, the beautiful painting filled with positive emotions turned into a masterpiece coated with anguish and despair. Negativity consumed the core and turned the magnificent art into a living curse.

A sound of a crash, a blood of a child, and a young man who stands and laughs in the eye of the tragedy.

The painting was finished; drenched by a palette of bright and happy colours cloaked the dark side of the art. Placed in an exhibit, the people started to gather in front of it with curiosity and amazement as if they were hypnotized by the painting. The remarks were chains of synonyms that could be sung in a song of praise. Beautiful, remarkable, amazing—the painting is, indeed. But a silhouette not far from the area silently disagrees, as he was aware of the creation's malevolence.

Tired of resisting the emotion driven by misfortune, the artist gave in as he took a dive into the darkness; hoping to forget the reason for his creation while secretly hoping for someone who was attracted to his art to notice and end the curse behind the palette of swirling colours."

**-****Man and his Creation**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Took me a while to update since I had to do a lot of things in real life. Was too preoccupied with reality that I forgot to write the chapter one of this story. XD I apologize for the wait.

So I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for Maiden in Blade. I want to give it a more RPG feel and make Kirito be also involve on the story line of the game Sword Art Online since we never actually had the chance to go more in depth to that part with the anime. It only stated that you must clear the 100 floor. (I don't really know but meh, this is what I recall from watching the anime. Never read the book or whatever its called.)

Reviews are highly appreciated. Constructive criticisms, reactions, questions, etc are appreciated. :)

Until the next update.


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